The Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, Hugh Hodgson School of Music, and University of Georgia Performing Arts Center welcome the renowned conductor and pianist Robert Spano to UGA as the Willson Center’s annual Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding. Spano is music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, which he led for 20 years. Beginning in the 2025-26 season, he is also music director of the Washington National Opera. Maestro Spano’s post-concert talk will focus on the Atlanta School of Composers, a group including Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Theofanidis, Osvaldo Golijov, Michael Gandolfi, and Adam Schoenberg, whose works Spano helped to commission and premiere throughout his tenure with the Atlanta Symphony. He will reflect on his cultivation of this important collection of 21st-century orchestral music, and share audio examples from performances. Free admission, tickets not required. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performance is a separate, ticketed event. Learn more here.